Open Court: Pointless to rank

Sports fans love nothing more than to make lists.

It’s not enough for something remarkable to happen. We need to find out how it rates against other magnificent feats of athleticism.

This habit comes from a desire to experience history in real time. We want to be there for the “greatest (fill in the blank) ever” as a way to help heighten our own life experiences.

Watching Michael Phelps capture a record eight gold medals makes us feel like we’re drawn closer together by a shared moment. He’s the best we’ve ever seen.

But is his head-shaking run at the 2008 Beijing Olympics the greatest athletic achievement in human history, as some hyperbole-prone individuals want to claim?

The question itself is preposterous. It’s among the best, but that’s as far as we can take it.

When an athlete is in the process of accomplishing something unprecedented, it’s human nature to get caught up in the moment. We tend to lose all perspective in the race to crown everything we see as the greatest of all-time.

Is Phelps’ gold-medal barrage more impressive than Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak? Or Ali’s blood-and-guts win over Joe Frazier in Manila? Or Jesse Owens shoving Hitler’s racist rhetoric down his ignorant throat? Or Wilt’s 100-point game?

It’s like comparing apples and oranges. Scratch that — it’s more like comparing apples to transmission fluid.

What Phelps pulled off in Beijing is akin to climbing Mount Everest. It was a grueling task that required a super-human level of mental and physical fortitude.

It’s the peak of athletic excellence. Phelps, along with Joltin’ Joe, Ali, Wilt, Owens, MJ, Tiger, Jerry Rice, McEnroe, the Babe, Jim Brown, the Four Horsemen, Bird and Magic, John Wooden and a handful of others have seen the pinnacle. Their accomplishments reign supreme. It’s the level that separates the great ones from everyone else.

Once you’re there, that’s all that matters. Sure, it serves as entertaining conversation fodder to argue the merits of these feats against each other, but reaching that rarified air is ultimately the best any athlete can strive toward.

It’s a lot like songwriting. It’s pointless to attempt to come up with the greatest song ever recorded. There is no cut-and-dried method to rank musical perfection.

The Beatles climbed the musical Everest a number of times, while Dexy’s Midnight Runners hit the peak only once with “Come On, Eileen.” The Beatles are obviously the better band, due to the mind-boggling number of hits they recorded, but that doesn’t diminish how loud we sing when “Come On, Eileen” comes on the radio.

There is no debating Phelps’ credentials. He belongs in the Everest discussion, alongside every other outstanding achievement we’ve been lucky enough to witness.

Of course, you can’t climb any higher than Mount Everest.

nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747